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The St Andrews Ball: Celebrating St Andrews Past, Present and Future

Everyone in St Andrews – the students, faculty and locals – feel drawn to the town. It is our home. It is the quirky place we try to explain to our family friends. We show them pictures of ourselves standing on Swilcan’s bridge on the golf course, exclaiming ‘Hugh Grant comes here every year!’ We boast about taking the same class as Kate Middleton when she studied here with Will. And finally, we celebrate our birthdays in the castle at midnight, never having actually seen it during the day. It is already November, and we’ve already made so many memories in this special place. Why then, should we not celebrate this town, university and community, in all its glory?

The St Andrews Ball will be an incredible event that aims to reflect this diversity and talent of our student body. With more than 600 years of history, we are not only part of the present of the university, but also its future. It’s this promise that the ball takes as its inspiration and its motivation. The Fellowship has already made undergraduates, postgraduates, faculty, and locals feel a warm welcome to join in on celebrating St Andrews and this ball develops a new, fully inclusive tradition to celebrate what St Andrews is all about.

The ball is also a central part of the St Andrews Day Celebrations weekend. With three days of events, the profits from the ball go directly back into funding an ambitious program of town and gown events, including a street ceilidh and other exciting events to be revealed.

Last year our university turned 600 years old, and it was the perfect time to reflect on student involvement in St Andrews, the 600th Finale forming a central part of this. The hugely successful finish also achieved something unexpected. In the midst of our pride in the university, we found pride in our town. We celebrated our past as much historically as we did academically. This year, the Fellowship looks instead into the future, excited about the possibilities that lie before us all.

I for one, am excited to join them on November 28th!

Photos courtesy of The Fellowship of St Andrews Facebook Page and Shawtography.